Prologue
by bibelotfox
Summary: For the first time, she was crying for him. Something wise told her it wouldn't be the last. AU. OC.
1. I

A/N: This will be a lengthy note, because I feel that I need to explain myself... Basically, I have this original character that I've had on my mind since 10th grade (I'm a sophomore in college now). I've spent the past six or so years developing her character and coming up with story after story after story. She's become really important to me, for some reason. I just needed to get her out there. This will be like a very, _very,_ broken-up story. Each chapter will be at a different point in her life. The themes of these chapters are going to be events of the canon story, with a twist. (This is why I stuck that "AU" in the summary, so don't get mad at me for changing a few things that happen in the manga...). Before you say anything, yes, she will be on team 7 instead of Sakura. Fear not, however, because I am not writing her off. She will be placed elsewhere and be an important character in Tori's life. Ok, so why the heck am I writing this haphazard, unorganized story? Well, I've put myself in a corner. I have created her entire life, full of different hardship and things, buuut it all takes place in the canon timeline. On the other hand, I have a ton of story ideas that stray completely from the original story-line, but make more sense, and probably seem better (I guess, I don't really know yet, this is an experiment _) if you understand her life and character prior, because within these other stories, what happens to her during the canon timeline, remains relevant. This is why I'm calling it _Prologue._ Make sense? No? Ok... Well anyway, if you're still alive after reading all that, this collection is what happens to my character over the majority of the course of the canon timeline. I didn't want to just write the entire story of Naruto but with a different character (bleh), so I broke it up into these short stories that all tie-in with each other. This will mostly focus on Tori and Sasuke's relationship (as friends and breifly-sort-of-kind-of-not-quite lovers) and I wanted to really put all the emotion that I've felt about my character and her relationships with the canon characters into this,which, I feel like I have satisfied so far. I could go on for like an entire novel, but I won't... this time.

If Naruto OC stories are not your cup-o-tea, this isn't for you. However, I do take the creation of mine very seriously, so I hope that, if you're skeptical, you'll give her a chance.

Disclaimer (do I even need to do this? Idk, I'm doin it): I don't own Naruto or it's characters. I DO, however, own Tori Saito.

* * *

"My name's Tori. Saito Tori."

An eight-year old Sasuke stared at the small hand that reached out to him. He looked up to see a green-eyed girl smiling. Her hair a short little brown mess of waves. He furrowed his brow as he looked at her hand once again.

"…Uchiha Sasuke," he replied without taking her hand. She blinked, not even noticing his lack of advancement.

"Oi, you're Sasuke?" she inquired. "…Yeah," he replied. She paused, but then plopped down on the dock next to him. "I've heard things about your brother. He's really cool!"

Sasuke kicked at the water with his feet, though he was too short to reach its surface. "Yeah… sure."

There was a short silence as Sasuke looked at the water's reflection with a frustrated expression, watching as the ripples distorted the image of his face.

"You don't think so? To be honest that makes me pretty mad," Tori replied eventually. Sasuke gave her a look of defense. "What do you mean? I try my best to catch up to him and all I ever get is a look of disapproval from my father. I can't stand my brother! Everyone thinks he's so great," he grumbled.

"At least you have your brother. I'd give a lot to have my brother around…" Tori trailed off. Sasuke blinked. "Why? Where is he?" he asked.

"…He's dead." Tori deadpanned. She then smiled sadly. "It's ok though, it wasn't my fault. He got sick and since he was always weak, he didn't make it." Tori looked down as the wind picked up. "My father is the only one who believed that my brother and I would be strong one day. Everyone in my family looks down on us because my dad married someone who's not a ninja. Something about inheritance…" She said the last word carefully, not fully comprehending its meaning. She waved her dainty hand as to brush their words away. "I don't care though. I just want to make my father and brother proud. I'm gonna be a ninja, y'know?" She looked back at him again. Sasuke was staring at her, processing her words in his underdeveloped mind. "You are too, right? Let's get strong together!" she reached her hand out again and this time Sasuke took it and smiled slightly.

* * *

 _One year later_

It didn't always rain in Konoha. There were showers in April and some in the fall, which felt somewhat normal, but there was something eerie about rain in August.

Thunder rumbled in low, baritone waves, rather than in loud, crackling bursts. The gloominess on days like these always made it difficult to remember the sun existed. Especially when it made the yellow florescent lighting of the academy classroom hurt Tori's eyes even more.

"Iruka-Sensei… do you know where Sasuke is today?" Tori asked in a small voice. Iruka paused to glance at the empty space beside her, furrowing his brow. He closed his eyes and sighed a distressed sigh. He opened his eyes and gave her a sorrowful look.

"I… think you should talk to me after class."

Chatter began to spread around the room, much like the burning sensation in the pit of Tori's stomach began to hurt and make her feel anxious.

 _Something is definitely wrong_ , she thought. She tried and succeeded at ignoring the chatter and pouring her focus on the clock just above the chalkboard.

"OK, OK! Class! Quiet down. There is no need for gossip." Iruka eyed them with a disapproving look. "Let's begin with some review of the…"

Tori lost the sound of Iruka's voice, only hearing the 'tick' 'tick' 'tick' of the clock that filled her eyes and ears.

The bell rang with a high-pitched trill, breaking Tori of her revere. She looked around as kids let out sighs of relief and low chatter filled the air before tapering off into silence as the last student left the classroom.

"Tori… you're most likely going to find this out sooner or later, so I suppose I'll take it upon myself to tell you first." Tori gave her teacher a confused look, not quite understanding the situation; however, the feeling in her stomach gave her a sense of wisdom that something serious had happened and she wouldn't like it.

Iruka took a few steps between them and kneeled before her tiny form. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

There were those sad eyes again. Those same eyes she'd seen on the medic's face when her brother died. The same eyes that represented death; the same eyes that tried to make things ok, when they most certainly were not.

"The Uchiha clan… everyone was murdered last night." She lost the breath in her lungs. Iruka's eyes widened.

"N-not Sasuke," he said, flustered by the realization that she assumed her friend was dead. Tori sighed in relief, blinking away the stinging in her eyes.

"Sasuke, he was spared. But Tori…" he spoke slowly. "Itachi, his older brother, was the one who committed the crimes…" He watched as her face filled with horror and disgust. "I know this is going to be hard for you to understand, but you need to give Sasuke some space. Let the adults handle it for now. He lost everything, and may not be emotionally stable. I think you should-" Before he could finish she had moved from under his light grasp and sprinted out the door.

* * *

She ran. Rain soaked her to her skin. She didn't care. She just had to find him.

It was dark, and the streets were dimly lit. The ground was muddy, causing a thick layer of it to build up on Tori's shoes.

She ran. Suddenly, however, she stopped in the middle of a street. The sun had mostly faded behind the clouds. Looking in all directions, she wondered where she was supposed to be going. Her gaze stopped in one direction and she started again, skipping down some cobbled stairs. The Uchiha district was in her line of sight.

She slowed her pace when she noticed the caution tape strewn across the respected uchiwa symbol, except now it only produced feelings of sadness and pity. It was just too quickly stripped of its former glory that it seemingly held just twenty-four hours beforehand, she briefly thought.

Tori, now full-on panting, made her way through the tape, using caution as it suggested.

She didn't even fully understand her desire to find him, necessarily. He was important to her, she realized, but did she really know what to do once she did discover him? It just made sense to do so, and she found comfort in the idea that he would do the same if their roles were reversed.

She continued to run. Run like the second fastest in her class…

" _Who's next?" Tori questioned with a confident smile on her lips. Kids lined up haphazardly at the forest's edge. A make-shift sprint-track, with a line drawn in the dirt with a stick as the starting point, was clouded with dust._

" _We'll go next," a boy with shaggy brown hair, and the eyes to match, spoke up. Two boys, one with a bandana around his head, the other with sandy-blond hair, trailed behind him, both with smug looks. Tori's smile widened._

 _The four kids lined up on the track, Tori taking place on the outside. The "spectators" all began hollering and cheering. Shikamaru, one hand in his pocket, the other raised in the air, gave a pregnant pause before letting his arm fall and half-caringly called out "Go"._

 _The four runners took off in a sprint, kicking up another dust cloud behind them. The brown-haired boy held first place, as the other two boys held third and fourth. Tori poured her focus into her feet as she watched the brown-haired boy's back. Sweat rolled down her face. Then, she suddenly smirked and picked up her pace. Without missing a beat, she passed the boy, relishing in his surprised expression and crossed the finish line._

 _The cheering increased as the boys collapsed from exhaustion and defeat. Tori stood tall, knowing her winning streak was still intact._

" _Tori wins… again," Shikamaru said._

 _Sometime in the midst of their race, a dark-haired boy watched with slight interest from the sideline._

" _My turn," Sasuke said. Everyone's mini celebration came to a halt as they turned to look at the new competitor._

 _As soon as Tori saw who it was, she smiled widely. "Sasuke! Think you can beat me?" she taunted. Sasuke gave a look of determination. "I know I can."_

 _They took their places. Shikamaru sighed, and repeated the same motion. "Go," he said, even more lazily than before, if that was possible._

 _It was a close race from start to finish. Sasuke was on Tori's heels at one point, and hers on his at another. Most of the kids watched nervously, some hoping Tori would keep her streak, others wishing she would finally lose._

 _Some got their wish as Sasuke sent one last burst of energy through his legs and crossed the finish line, Tori trailing slightly behind._

 _Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke is the winner, then. I'm going home… troublesome."_

 _Tori panted, hands on her knees. She glanced up at Sasuke giving her a triumphant look._

 _She smiled._

" _Good job," said Sasuke. "Maybe one day you'll be as good as me."_

 _She laughed lightly._

She ran. The cobbled paths were so dark and cold, void of people and chatter and _life_. She tried to ignore the faint blood stains and battered doors.

She didn't realize she had been crying – the rain blended with the salty substance cascading down her small, red cheeks. For the first time, she was crying for _him_. Something wise told her it wouldn't be the last.

Suddenly, she skidded to a stop as a small figure came into view when she rounded the corner.

"Sasuke?" She approached him apprehensively, as if he were an unpredictable wild animal. He remained unmoving, or at least it seemed like it. It was hard to tell in a torrential downpour.

As she got closer and closer, she saw that it was indeed Sasuke, and his small shoulders were shaking. Shaking with sobs, she presumed. She was at arms-length when she reached out to him.

"What do you want…" he spoke and she flinched. "What the heck…" He shook again with sobs. "Do you want?" He tried to sound condescending, and failed completely. Tori lowered her arm and gave a saddened look. She then circled around to view his face.

She saw his face for the first time since he lost everything. In a way, it was like seeing his face for the first time again, but different. A new face. A face of death, of suffering, that would inevitably last a life-time. It began to erase previous memories of what that face represented. Carefree – never again. Child-like – never again. Loving – never again…

Sobs erupted from her chest and his alike. She instinctually grabbed him and held him as if to keep him from falling apart. The fragile boy gave up and let his weight fall partially on hers. She, in a sense, could feel the pain, anger, and horror that mixed together in the pit of his stomach.

The rain fell, refusing to let.

"I will _never_ leave your side," she promised with a shaky breath. And in that moment, she knew – no pain, no suffering in her life would ever compare to _this_.

* * *

A/N: So there's the first part! I have absolutely no idea the type of response I'm going to get out of this. But if you hate her, you hate her (though there isn't much to go off of just yet...) if you don't, great! I plan to keep updating. I have an outline of all the different points I want to touch on. To be honest, I'm terrified. This is my baby O_O. I realize that the feelings I have about this character may not be reciprocated, and that's ok. I couldn't keep it all in my head for much longer. It is what it is.

Thanks for reading~


	2. II

A/N: Just a couple things I'd like to go ahead and note for this chapter - First of all, this is mainly an introductory chapter designed to paint a picture for Tori's character and start to give you an idea of what she's like. This version of Tori (12-13) is probably my least favorite. I've definitely spent a lot more time on her part II self (15-16). With that said, she goes through a lot of changes over the course of these few years, so this version of Tori is just a little baby who's oblivious to things to come (much like Naruto and Sasuke when the series begins). Secondly, yes, this is beginning to just seem like a bunch of the same situations as the manga, but there will be chapters void of canon situations, as well as some canon situations taken from a different perspective. So hopefully that will be interesting. Also- read the last A/N at the bottom for details about Sakura's team because I'd like to elaborate on that without spoiling things. ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I DO own Tori Saito and other OCs mentioned.

* * *

"I wonder what the Genin units will be like this year…" Tori wondered aloud.

She heard Sasuke grunt softly from her left in acknowledgment. The breeze picked up and caused her hair to sway like the grass before them. As the sun retired, it cast a golden glow on everything within its sight. Tori sunk even more into her lax position with her hands behind her, supporting her upper-body and her legs crossed in front of her.

"I just want to move on with my training," Sasuke finally replied. She knew he couldn't care less about being on her team, of course. _I could only hope he considered it for our teamwork dynamics_ ,she thought. _Then again Sasuke was never one for teamwork…_

"Well… I'd rather be on your team than anyone else's."

Tori wasn't expecting him to have anything to say after that, but after a long silence she looked back to read his face. To her mild surprise, he had fallen asleep. Her expression softened as she took in his image, watching how his chest rose and fell, the wind gently brushing his bangs over his cheeks. He was laying with his hands behind his head in the laziest of ways. But it was the look of serenity on his face that really overtook her. It was so void of frustration, so void of the turmoil she could see in his eyes every day. It broke her heart beautifully.

* * *

The next morning, Tori woke up at the crack of dawn. She absent-mindedly looked around her room before leaving the warmth of her duvet. Scrolls littered the floor in one corner. Her laundry was folded and placed on her desk, curtesy of her mother. A wall scroll hung just above her desk with the Japanese kanji meaning "good fortune". It had been a gift from her father.

She stumbled out of bed, briefly noting the cold wooden floors with contempt, and halted in front of a full-length mirror leaned against her wall.

She examined herself. She didn't think much of her appearance, however. Her hair stuck out in various places (the waves tended to become even frizzier after she tossed during sleep). The light-light brown tresses fell to the middle of her rib-cage. Her eyes were a muted green color. She turned from side to side, disliking the way her nose was ever-so-slightly asymmetrical. Her eyes shifted to the rest of her body. She just had a baggy and wrinkled over-sized shirt on. At twelve-years-old, she was slightly short for her age-group. Her torso was shorter, and her legs a bit longer. She pursed her lips as she viewed herself from the side, disliking the fact that she was stick-thin and maybe a bit disproportionate. She sighed, closing her eyes and reopening them, dawning a newly determined expression.

 _This is pointless, Tori_ , she told herself. _Starting today, I'm a kunoichi. Things like self-image shouldn't matter_. But it did matter, she mused. She couldn't help the way she often wondered what people thought when they looked at her. She shook her head to clear the useless thoughts and entered her small bathroom.

Once emerging from the bathroom, Tori stood in front of the mirror once again. This time, she was fresh-faced and clad in her usual attire. She wore a light grey-blue sleeve-less, v-neck top that adorned small, silver ornamental buckles over the shoulders. Underneath, she wore a breathable mesh top that peaked out at her chest and hips. Her bottoms were simple black cropped pants, and light grey shorts over top.

She made eye-contact with herself as she secured her hitai-ate around her hair sideways. Her long side-fringe peeked out in the front, framing the right side of her face. She positioned the ends to the right of the base of her neck and pulled, hearing the satisfying sound the cloth made as she secured it. With a determined look she nodded, as if to say: "I can do this", and exited her room.

On her way out she returned her father's smile over the edge of his newspaper. She could feel a warmth swell in her chest when she looked into the soft brown eyes of Ryouta Saito.

"Love you, dad," she said, nearing the front door off the kitchen. "Tell mom I love her."

"Love you too, Tori. I'm proud of you! I knew you could do it." Tori's smile widened as she exited the small townhouse.

Tori adored her father. He was the most wise man she believed she would ever encounter. His optimism was a breath of fresh air to somewhat of a pessimist as she was. She liked to think of her outlook on life to be more realistic, but her father's stern looks whenever she believed she couldn't do something spoke otherwise.

The now nervous feeling in her chest stemmed from her desire to keep her father smiling at her. And she knew, of course, that no matter what he would always be proud of her, but that smile awakened higher expectations of herself.

She liked to think she was decently skilled. Her taijutsu being her best and genjutsu her worst, as mental focus was not her forte; however, when she could visualize the energy in her body, chakra control came relatively easy to her. She was thankful for the couple of suiton jutsu her father taught her recently, after discovering her affinity for water nature.

Was it enough? The thought snuck up from the back of Tori's mind. _Enough for what?_ The devil's advocate within her countered. She knew becoming a ninja was what she wanted, but she couldn't deny the feeling that there should be something more. The future was a scary place, she denoted.

 _Relax, Tori_ , she figuratively spoke to herself for the second time today. She took a deep breath.

 _All in due time._

* * *

Nearing the entrance to the academy, Tori noticed two girls fighting to enter. She raised an eyebrow at Ino and Sakura as they pushed and shoved each other.

She walked up and Sakura paused the death-glare match between her and her best friend to glance at Tori.

"Oh, hey Tori!" She waved. Ino looked her way as well and smiled.

"Excited for selections?" Sakura asked. Tori gave a nervous laugh. "Oh yeah, that's today?"

She acted oblivious, but she was fully aware of what today entailed. Her anxiety the night before wouldn't let her forget it. She couldn't help it – she was particular about who she surrounded herself with. People like Sakura and Ino she tended keep at arms-length. She needed friends her own gender, she believed, and she was thankful for Sakura and Ino, but their cattiness and generally superficial priorities exhausted Tori.

She walked into the classroom and took her usual seat.

"OK, class, before we begin, I just wanted to say how proud I am of all of you. It's been a pleasure watching each and every one of you grow up over the years." He sent a fond glance towards Naruto that turned into a look of confusion. Tori glanced his way and did a double-take, raising a brow as she noticed he was looking worse for wear. He looked as though he just left a boxing match with a bear, and the bear won…

 _I don't wanna know…_ she thought, albeit feeling a bit sorry for him. She turned her attention again to her teacher.

"This probably feels like a big step for you all, however in reality this is quite a small step. When I assign your three-man teams today, you will enter the world and begin to truly learn what it means to be shinobi and kunoichi."

Tori felt a wave of nervousness rush over her again at the mention of teams. She looked around the room at all the other rookies. Her gaze landed first on Shikamaru. _I wouldn't mind having him on my team…_ she mused. She considered him to be a good friend. She had to appreciate, in a morbid way, his anti-ness and pessimism that rivaled her own.

Her eyes slid to Kiba. _Kiba either. He's pretty competitive. That would keep me on my toes._ Next to him, she saw Shino and shuddered. _Oh… please no._

"Why are you so nervous?" Tori flinched at the sudden voice pulling her back from space. She turned to look at Sasuke next to her. After all this time, she just wasn't used to Sasuke initiating conversation. They were close for sure, but their friendship was more in the form of an unspoken bond. Perhaps that was one-sided, but Tori knew by the way he didn't protest to her walking beside him, or telling him what was on her mind, meant she was alright in his book.

"I… I don't know, I just am." She shrugged. "I don't want to be on a team with anyone," she glanced at the bug crawling on her desk, "…less compatible." Sasuke grunted and shifted his apathetic gaze back to the front of the classroom.

"Team 6." _Here we go._ Tori swallowed. "Haruno Sakura, Nakahara Tobio, and Ueda Chouku."

"What?!" Sakura shrieked. "I'm on a team with the guy who pushed Naruto into Sasuke?!" A roar of laughter filled the room as Sakura blushed and sat back down, and Tobio rubbed the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh.

Next to Tori, Sasuke brooded.

Chouku pursed her lips in indifference. "At least you're on my team, Sakura." Sakura turned to look at the black-haired girl and gave her a smirk and rolled her eyes.

Iruka cleared his throat. "Team 7 is… Uchiha Sasuke," Tori bit her lip. "…Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke gave a soft "tch". "And…" Tori gulped and went through a list of reasons why she wouldn't be on this team and why it was so childish of her to be so particular. But she wanted to so badly. She wanted to get stronger with Sasuke. She wanted to keep her promise…

"Saito Tori."

Tori's eyes snapped back open. She couldn't believe it. It was so dumb to feel so victorious, but she was _happy_. Things made sense all of a sudden. She smiled and turned to Sasuke, who just grunted. She didn't care though, because she knew, deep down, he was relieved to have her instead of someone else he couldn't tolerate.

After her excitement had waned, however, she could feel stares on her back. She suddenly felt like she was up next to challenge the bear…

Iruka named off the rest of the teams.

"Alright, now that you all have your respective teams, you will meet with your instructors and go from there. I wish you all the best of luck." Iruka gave a huge warm and genuine smile. Tori couldn't help but mirror it.

* * *

A/N: So the characters on Sakura's team are not *necessarily* OCs. I decided to be a little bit more creative than to just drop a couple of half-assed OCs on her team just for the sake of putting her somewhere. So Tobio is an actual character. That is his actual name, given by Kishimoto, and he is the kid who, like the chapter says, bumps into Naruto causing him to kiss Sasuke... I know, I raised an eyebrow too when I found out he had a name, lol. I did add the surname, however. Chouku, on the other hand... I chose the name but based her off of one of the kunoichi you can see in both the manga and the anime as graduating with this class as well. I don't plan on bringing these characters back up, because this isn't a story about Sakura, or even really about the rookie 9. I know it can come across in some of these "Sakura-replacement" fics that it's all ill-will against her, but for me it isn't. Do I like her character? No, not really. I think she was poorly written and never got the heroin role that she deserved, and I could even say this is a factor which led to this character, which is somewhat true, but more as an after-thought. She will come back into Tori's life later on, like I mentioned before, and it is because I genuinely want her to.

I know there is a lot of focus on Tori's friendship with Sasuke so far, but things will begin to stem-off and I'll be focusing on her friendship with Naruto soon, as well as Kakashi as her sensei. I'm also excited for fighting scenes - you best believe I've spent a lot of time coming up with her fighting style + strengths and weaknesses.


End file.
